Photos are a huge part of weddings. After all, when you put so much effort into planning the perfect day, isn’t it important to capture those memories and all of the little details that make them shine? As any married person will tell you, the day goes fast. When it’s over, you finally realize just how important quality photographs can be.
But wedding photography doesn’t have to be just about a good photographer capturing moments on one day. From bridal showers to photobooths, you won’t regret capturing your wedding day (or wedding months!) from every angle.
Get Silly with Photobooths
Photobooths have made a huge comeback, to the point that they’re now nearly ubiquitous at weddings. And why not? The photographer simply can’t capture everyone that’s there, and a photobooth gives your friends and family the chance to make their own memories and show the special couple just how much fun they’re having on their big day. And it’s not just adults that enjoy photobooths; they’re also a good way to keep children attending weddings occupied.
However, photobooths do not have to appear only during the wedding reception. A photobooth is a perfect activity for a couple’s bridal shower. Guys will enjoy participating in something outside of opening gifts, and it’s a way for mutual friends that have just met to get to know each other better and interact. The photobooth should be open from the beginning of the party to also serve as an icebreaker.
It doesn’t take much to set up a photobooth in a home or venue. Simply set up a table of props with a sign and instructions for guests. Props could come from anywhere. If you hire a professional photobooth vendor, they typically come with a prop box. Otherwise, there are online sites that sell props of all sorts. But I encourage you to think outside the box!
Look inside your garage and around your house for items to use as props, and be creative!
For the couple that loves boating, fishing and the outdoors, they used products they had inside their own garage. And think beyond a standard black sheet as your backdrop. Hang sheets of burlap or fun patterns of fabric.
Capturing Showers
A bridal shower or a bridesmaid’s luncheon is a great time to capture relaxed, genuine moments of the bride’s core group of friends enjoying time together. Recently, a bride I worked with hired a photographer to take professional shots of them having fun after their afternoon luncheon.
Having a professional capture this special time together will give the bride a lifetime of memories of the wedding events outside of just her ceremony and reception. And the photo session is a perfect start to creating a bridesmaids gift! The bride could make a photo book from the photography session for each of the girls, and then sign the inside of the book with a heartfelt thank you note for being part of her wedding.
Using Photos in the Wedding Décor
Using pictures from a bridal shower, engagement session or simply a happy vacation together, the bride and groom can create a photo book to use as a guest book at their wedding. Attendees will leave well wishes, words of marriage advise and encouragement to the couple, making for an invaluable memento that goes beyond just another photo album or a guest book filled only with words. If you use photos from a shower or a bachelor/bachelorette party, it’s also fun for the guests to see the finished pictures from the party and recap the good fun they had!
Pictures of the special couple are a good way to decorate areas of a venue when you are trying to turn your attention away from dull or unsightly locations. At one wedding I recently worked, framed childhood pictures of the bride and groom were placed on these bland restroom doors in the reception venue. (Be very careful to use removable adhesive and get permission from the venues anytime you affix photos to walls and ceilings.)
Couples oftentimes ask for ways to remember those family members that have passed away. One bride created a memory shadowbox of the groom’s late father and placed it on its own table with a framed letter that she wrote to him right before he died. The letter from the bride to her future father-in-law shared her love for his son and promises that she would take care of him throughout their marriage.
There are also photographers who offer on-site editing of pictures that are taken during the getting ready process of the wedding and through the ceremony, and then replay the pictures in a slideshow during the reception.
What other ways have you seen photos creatively used at a wedding or shower?
Leah McCarthy is a wedding planner and caterer based in coastal South Carolina. Inducted into The Knot’s hall of fame as a top 100 planner in the country, Leah regularly blogs about her experiences and insight in the industry for WeddingPaperDivas.com.